Five Waltham runners share common Boston Marathon goal

Thursday

Apr 24, 2014 at 10:14 AMApr 24, 2014 at 10:14 AM

By Scott Souzassouza@wickedlocal.com

For five Waltham runners in this year’s Boston Marathon the individual stories and emotions were different, but the motivation was the same.They all wanted to take back the Marathon after a little bit of it was stolen from them in last year’s bombings. They all did it right through the finish line.For Waltham High alumna Amanda Aborn, it was a finish line she never saw last April 15 when two bombs went off a few minutes before she was to meet her family and fiancé on Boylston Street. She had thought at the time that was going to be her final run after doing it to support lymphoma research, but even in the midst of nursing school the 26-year-old said this year she felt compelled to finish what she never could last year."It was weird – I’m not going to lie," she said of the final stretch. "Each year I’ve finished, when you turn onto Boylston you tell yourself to, ‘Pick it up! Pick it up!’ But this year you were aware of every step you took. You looked at each spot where the bombs went off, and all the places you saw that things happened last year. I was a lot more reflective running past all those points."For Waltham resident Chris Young, who was running to raise money for the Waltham Boys & Girls Club where his wife, Erica, works, that reflection came earlier as he approached the spot where she had stopped him on the course last year after she’d been about 20 feet away from where one of the bombs went off on Boylston Street minutes before."It was incredible when you were getting to the end – Mile 23, 24, 25," he said. "Then it really hit me when I passed the spot where I was stopped last year."Young said he ran that final mile last year on his own that blockades and police tape prevented him from doing on the course, but it was much different this year when he was able to run the 26.2 miles the way they were intended."My wife met me in Kenmore Square and ran with me along the side until you got to that bridge," he said. "Then that turn onto Boylston is everything everyone always tells you it is. I was struck by how focused the spectators were near the finish line. They were all cheering the whole time. Nobody was texting on their phones or anything."One of those spectators was Lisa Hickey, who last year went to the finish line, along with her family, to wait for daughter Allie Hickey to finish. She never did as the family was scattered amid the two blasts and Lisa Hickey sustained shrapnel damage to her leg.This year, she got to see two daughters finish the race as eldest daughter, Kit, a Waltham native, crossed about 20 minutes ahead of former three-sport WHS star, Allie."It was amazing," Kit Hickey said. "Everyone always tells you about the crowd in Boston, but even that doesn’t do it justice. It makes a huge difference when you are suffering. Everyone was so nice and helpful to each other – even in the Athlete’s Village before the start of the race."When you were running down Boylston it reminded you of where you were a year ago. Seeing my mom at the finish line this year was really good after what happened last year."Waltham resident Scott Wakefield, who on Monday ran for the American Society for Suicide Prevention, ran the Marathon in 2009 and said he was inspired to run this year after watching last year’s events."At first it was anger," he said. "Over time the anger changed to the emotion of wanting to rebuild something as a community and be a part of that in Boston. This city has demonstrated that we are not going to back down because of this. We are going to stand up for something bigger."After I was finished, so many people thanked me for running this year. That’s not something I ever remember from before."Waltham resident Lauren Baugher first ran the Boston Marathon 15 years ago when she was an assistant softball coach at Boston College. The Philadelphia native, and two-sport star at Delaware University, said she became determined to run it again when she watched the events of last April 15 unfold to her horror."After everything that happened last year it was something I knew I wanted to do this year," she said. "I started planning out my outfit well in advance with the American flag on my shorts and a red tank top that said Boston Strong."A teacher at Newton North High School, as well as the school’s varsity field hockey and softball coach, Baugher had to adapt a unique way of training due to her schedule with her long runs. She would leave her Waltham house at 5 a.m. and run all the way into downtown Boston, before turning back on the course and running to North High where she would shower, work and coach."My players all thought I was nuts," she said, "but my 4-year-old thought it was pretty awesome I was running."Baugher said her teams gave her great support on Monday as they wore "Baugher Strong" T-shirts and greeted her on certain parts of the course near the high school."They ran with me for a little stretch," she said. "I yelled at them to not get hurt because we have a game (against Waltham) on Thursday."It was one of many scenes that made this Marathon like no other in the event’s 118-year history."I was completely in shock by how many more people were out on the course," Aborn said. "With so many people there already, you wouldn’t think 10,000 more would make that much of a difference. But it was. Usually it starts to thin out around the 17-mile mark or so, but this year there were crowds all the way to the end."Scott Souza can be reached at 781-398-8006 or ssouza@wickedlocal.com.